Infants feeding bottle

ABSTRACT

An infants&#39;&#39; feeding bottle having a container which has an internal projection to engage a closure member which has two spaced protrusions, the closure member being displaceable from a sealing position, within a teat of the bottle, to a position in which it is engaged by said internal projection with said protrusions on either side thereof, one of the protrusions being shaped to permit substantially unobstructed flow of liquid from the container to the teat.

United States Patent Hurst Oct. 29, 1974 INFANTS FEEDING BOTTLE [75] Inventor: Eric Kenneth Hurst, London, Pr'mary Emmmer Dnald Norton England [73] Assignee: Louis Woolf Griptight Limited, 57 ABSTRACT Birmingham, England An infants feeding bottle having a container which [22] May 1973 has an internal projection to engage a closure member [21] Appl. No.; 362,810 which has two spaced protrusions, the closure member being displaceable from a sealing position, within a teat of the bottle, to a position in which it is engaged 2% 8 215/ 3 by said internal projection with said protrusions on eid D ther side thereof, one of the protrusions being shaped 1 0 to permit substantially unobstructed flow of liquid 5 6] References Cited from the container to the teat.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 3,366,261 l/l968 Dewey 215/11 D 40 ZI 23 27 22 H 1 l |& 28 l l l l I 29 l 1 Z0 IS l6 I5 PATENTEUBCI 29 1974- sum 1 BF 4 FIGI.

PATENTEU OCT 28 19M 3.844.436 SHEET 20F 4 PATENTEDUEI 29 m4 SHEET u or 4 FIGA FIGS.

This invention relates to infants, feeding bottles of the kind comprising a container for liquid, a teat securable onto the container, a detachable teat cover arranged to enclose the teat and a closure which, before use separates the interior of the teat from the interior of the container.

It is the object of this invention to provide an infants feeding bottle in a convenient form both in use and for manufacture, the bottle having certain safeguards to ensure reliability in use.

According to the present invention an infants feeding bottle as claimed in claim 1 of the Complete Specification of British Pat. application No. 10529/70, Cognate No. 44739/70, is modified in that the outlet opening of the container has an internal projection and the closure means has two axially spaced protrusions which, when the closure member has been displaced from the sealing position, are located at either side of said projection, to limit movement of the closure means within the container, the closure means being shaped such that, when in such displaced position, it permits substantially unrestricted flow of liquid, at least from the container to the teat.

The invention will now be described by way of exampie. with reference to the accompanying drawings in which FIG. 1 is an enlarged cross sectional view of a feeding bottle in the closed and sealed condition,

FIG. 2 is another view of the bottle indicating an intermediate stage in preparation of the bottle for use,

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the bottle in condition for use, but with an alternative form of closure means and FIGS. 4 and 5 are cross-sectional views on the line c--c in FIG. 3 of two alternative constructions.

The infants feeding bottle illustrated is primarily a disposable one, being intended to be used only once, and is therefore made from inexpensive materials such as plastics.

The'bottle comprises a container for liquid such as milk or a mixture of milk and other substances. The container has an outlet opening 11, at one end which is surrounded by an external frusto conical surface 12. Within the opening 11, an annular surface presented to the interior of the container meets the surface 14 to provide an acute angled annular edge 16, for the projection 13.

The external frusto conical surface 12, of the container is engaged by a complimentarily shaped flange 17 of a resilient teat 18. The teat l8, moreover, has a bulbous end which is apertured at 19 to provide an outlet.

A securing ring 20 surrounds the teat flange l7 and is secured to the container 10 in any convenient manner, thus retaining the teat in sealing engagement with the surface 12, to prevent leakage between the teat and the container.

The securing ring 20, has at its narrower end, an annular recess of generally part-circular cross-sectional shape and there is in the teat 18, a further recess 22, which is of similar shape in cross section. This recess 22 is at the junction of the flange 17 with the remainder of the teat l8.

Engaging in the recesses 21, and 22 is a head 23 formed integrally on the open end of a cup shaped teat cap 24. The bead 23, is of generally circular crosssectional shape and engages in the two recesses 21 and 22 which thus substantially surround it.

The teat cap 24, is made from a rigid material, such as aluminium and protects the teat, not only against damage but also against contamination. The teat 18, is

moreover, shaped to provide a sealing surface engageable with the interior of the cap 24 at 25, further to seal the enclosure surrounding the teat.

Liquid within the container 10, cannot reach the interior of the teat when the device is in the condition shown in FIG. 1, since there is a closure means 26 which is engaged within the teat 18. This closure means 26, is in the form of a flanged hollow plug, the interior of which is open to the interior of the bottle 10. However, in the FIG. 3 construction a similar plug is used, though the interior is open to the interior of the teat.

The plug has generally cylindrical form with three axially spaced flanges 27, 28, and 29. The flange 27 is a shallow cylindrical annulus and when the plug is in the position in FIG. 1, this flange engages the teat 18 in a region adjacent the recess 22 formed in the teat. The teat is effectively trapped between the flange 27 and the bead, 23 of the teat cap 24. This, in itself, provides a seal against the flow of liquid from the interior of the container 10, to the interior of the teat 18. However, the end of the plug is engaged within the teat in the region 25 at which the cap engages the teat. The interengaging portions of the teat and plug are identified at 30.

The flange 28, of the plug 26 is in the form of a flexible skirt of non-circular configuration. FIGS. 4 and 5 indicate two alternative forms of this flange 28. In FIG. 4 it has four equally spaced flats 31, and in FIG. 5, it has four equally spaced rectangular cut outs 32. The third flange 29, of the plug 26, engages the lip 16 of the outlet opening 11 of the container 10.

FIG. 2 illustrates the manner in which the teat cap 24, is manipulated to dislodge the closure means plug 26 into the interior of the container 10. The first stage in such dislodgement comprises depressing the cap 24, towards the interior of the container. The flexibility of the teat allows it to be deformed, as shown in FIG. 2, to a position in which the closure meansplug 26, is moved so that its circular flange 28 passes the lip 16 of the projection 13 and because of the flared shape of this flange 28, will not pass back again past the lip 16. The resilience of the teat will now allow the cap and teat together to return to the original position, though the plug will be drawn out of the interior of the teat. It is now possible for the contents of the container to reach the interior of the teat but whilst the bottle is held with the teat uppermost, no such transfer will occur. Indeed the flange 27, of the plug being circular will engage on the frusto conical surface 14, of the projection 13, thus, preventing any liquid reaching the interior of I the teat.

Such a condition of the plug is illustrated in FIG. 3.

This operation has prepared the feeding bottle for use without contamination of the teat. In order to allow the bottle to be used, it is merely necessary to remove the cap 24, so that the condition shown in FIG. 3, is reached. The securing ring 20 is made from a resilient material which allows the cap to be forced out of its narrower end without undue damage either to the teat or to the securing ring itself.

If thebottle is held with the teat downwards, the plug will move to a position in which the non-circular flange 28 engages the lip 16 of the projection 13. This allows liquid to flow past the lip and into the interior of the teat.

The feeding bottle is not intended to be used again and for this reason, it is not possible readily to reengage the closure means within the teat nor to reassemble the cap over the teat. Moreover the means for attaching the securing ring to the container 10, is not of the kind capable of being re-engaged once it has been removed.

The feeding bottle is preferably sterilised after assembly by a heating process and it remains substantially sterile until it is made ready for use.

I claim:

1. An infants feeding bottle comprising a container for liquid, having an outlet opening surrounded by a seating, an internal projection on the container extending into said outlet opening, a resilient teat with an outlet orifice, the teat having a flange portion engaging the seating, means for securing the flange portion on the container seating to create a seal to contain the liquid in the container, a removable teat cap enclosing the teat, the cap having an internal annular portion engaging a further portion of the teat to create a further seal for the enclosure for the teat, and closure means sealing against communication between the interior of the container and the interior of the teat, said closure means being frictionally engaged in the interior of the teat and being displaceable by manipulation of the teat cap to remove the closure means from its sealing position, such manipulation being carried out with the teat cap covering the teat, and the closure means having two axially spaced protrusions which, when the closure member has been displaced from the sealing position, are located at either side respectively of said projection, to limit movement of the closure means within the container, the closure means being so shaped that, when in such displaced position, it permits substantially unrestricted flow of liquid, at least from the container to the teat.

2. An infants feeding bottle as claimed in claim 1, in which the internal projection in the container has an annular edge shaped to allow passage of one of the protrusions of the closure member past it in one direction, towards the displaced position thereof but preventing such passage in the opposite direction.

3. An infants feeding bottle as claimed in claim 1 in which one of the protrusions on the closure member is flexible to allow it to pass the projection on the container in a direction towards said displaced position.

4. An infants feeding bottle as claimed in claim 3, in which the said one protrusion has a non-circular periphery to permit flow past the closure member when in the displaced position. 

1. An infants feeding bottle comprising a container for liquid, having an outlet opening surrounded by a seating, an internal projection on the container extending into said outlet opening, a resilient teat with an outlet orifice, the teat having a flange portion engaging the seating, means for securing the flange portion on the container seating to create a seal to contain the liquid in the container, a removable teat cap enclosing the teat, the cap having an internal annular portion engaging a further portion of the teat to create a further seal for the enclosure for the teat, and closure means sealing against communication between the interior of the container and the interior of the teat, said closure means being frictionally engaged in the interior of the teat and being displaceable by manipulation of the teat cap to remove the closure means from its sealing position, such manipulation being carried out with the teat cap covering the teat, and the closure means having two axially spaced protrusions which, when the closure member has been displaced from the sealing position, are located at either side respectively of said projection, to limit movement of the closure means within the container, the closure means being so shaped that, when in such displaced position, it permits substantially unrestricted flow of liquid, at least from the container to the teat.
 2. An infants'' feeding bottle as claimed in claim 1, in which the internal projection in the container has an annular edge shaped to allow passage of one of the protrusions of the closure member past it in one direction, towards the displaced position thereof but preventing such passage in the opposite direction.
 3. An infants'' feeding bottle as claimed in claim 1 in which one of the protrusions on the closure member is flexible to allow it to pass the projection on the container in a direction towards said displaced position.
 4. An infants'' feeding bottle as claimed in claim 3, in which the said one protrusion has a non-circular periphery to permit flow past the closure member when in the displaced position. 